Mischa Barton hasn’t done herself any favors lately with her messy dresses and sloppy beauty routines, but after hanging out with her May 4 in LA, I’m convinced she’s about to make a clean comeback!

We have come to expect the unexpected when it comes to Mischa Barton, and last night she didn’t disappoint. Although the 24-year-old actress has been a hot mess lately, she was on her best behavior and looking good last night at the Charlotte Ronson & JC Penney party in LA!

I caught up with Mischa at the May 4 event at Milk Studios in line for In & Out Burger. She wasn’t drinking, wasn’t stumbling over her words, didn’t have lipstick on her teeth — and was really genuine and sweet (and yes, cute). We immediately struck up a conversation as if we had been BFFs forever (though I’m not going to lie, I was a little shy at first — I was expecting a hot mess and got an adorable girl instead, so it took a few minutes to compute).

Visions of her look in the days of the O.C. started creeping in my mind more and more rather then her recent wardrobe disasters and personal issues. She even was concerned about my well-being (imagine!) saying, “Are you having fun tonight yet?”

During our 10-minute conversation, I learned that she took forever to pick out her outfit like any other girl, eats like a normal person (she loves hamburgers as much as I do) and she’s thoughtful — she picked up food for a pal, too. We parted ways with a hug.

Consider my eyes officially opened. Mischa seems to actually be improving. She was sober, happy and in good spirits. And THAT is the Mischa Barton I know and love! So please, peeps, it’s time to give her a break!

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Kay Kay

Posted at 7:59 PM on May 5, 2010

C’mon Russ! You bought that? Ten minutes of shooting the breeze and you’re sold? You didn’t trail her for thirty minutes to see what kind of shenanigans she got into after she left your side? Dude, we count on you for the dirty details!
I’m disappointed. Even more so now that I see that I can purchase evey stitch of her outfit at Singer22.com. Have you no shame?